The defending team's highest priority is to prevent quality scoring opportunities, particularly from central areas that provide a wide shooting angle to goal. As a consequence, the consolidation of defending players to protect the most dangerous scoring areas has become an accepted tactic at high levels of play. This practice poses a definite problem for attacking players. It's tough enough to find the time and space needed to execute attacking combinations, and when defenders position to compact the field space horizontally as well as vertically it becomes even more difficult. In most instances outstanding individual play won't succeed in breaking down a packed defense, although the player with exceptional dribbling skills can cause problems for even the most organized defensive scheme. Successful penetration of a packed defense is most often the result of a coordinated group effort. The most basic example of this is the give-and-go, or wall, pass.
